Over the past few years college athletics have gained an immense amount of popularity all across the United States. The NCAA and each respective University has made an immense amount of money through college sports these past few years whether it be fans buying tickets, sports apparel or television contracts. Currently the NCAA states that student athletes are not allowed to be compensated beyond their athletic scholarships. Yet as the popularity of college sports continues to increase and the revenue that is being made, it brings up a very valuable question; Should athletes be compensated for their work?
Many will bring up that college athletes should be awarded pay from these colleges, because they’re the only reason why there is a surplus. Yet, despite the success of NCAA tournaments, athletes do not receive any monetary compensation. The NCCA wants to maintain its amateur status and that payment would compromise the integrity of intercollegiate athletics.
Yet the amount of revenue that the NCAA makes of these hard working students is unreal. The
NCCA profits off the sale of merchandise, and the television rights. Since the years 2000 the
NCAA annual revenue has increased every year. Especially now with its new television contract with Turners sports, which began in 2011 and will end in 2024. The network has agreed to pay
10.8 billion dollars to show college basketball on its networks. Also NCAA is profiting from the college football contract with ESPN, which has agreed to pay 5.64 billion dollars over a 12 year span which began in 2014, and will end in 2025. The NCAA will make 16 billion dollars over the next 10 years and thats only off its television contract. Yet with all that money students aren’t rewarded for their product that they are providing to the NCAA. Other students on scholarships are paid when their offer their services to their schools and the same should apply for athletes.
This is because athletes offer more to their colleges than other students to the extent where sports

have become the foundation of some universities. Many off these college athletes don’t have jobs because of the sports season, so they don’t have any other form of receiving pay. College athletes are providing a service to these universities, so they should be rewarded with a small salary.
Yet many people will argue and tell you student athletes shouldn’t be paid, because paying athletes would undermine the primary role of universities which is to offer education. The lifetime skills and education that athletes receive while in college cannot be equated to the amount they would receive were they to be paid. Yet it seems like all the amount of money that is made, many people aren’t aware that most athletic departments actually lose money year after year trying to fund programs. Out of 120 FBS schools only twelve broke even or made a profit in the year of 2011. The money that would be used would be coming out of the university’s general funds, which would mean taking money away from academic scholarships, classroom resources and professors’ salaries. Athletes